Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 112,642 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 188.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 172,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 112,642 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $36,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $86,364,000. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 173,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,124,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $207.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $208.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.